December 21
by leanaticxoxo
Summary: The end of the world hits, leaving Finn and Rachel to head towards the "safe city" that Finn heard about. Does it actually exist though?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So...I don't know I actually seriously had a dream about this and woke up and started writing. It was like The Walking Dead meets Finchel. So why not, this is just some freewriting...This is probably not going to be a long story. I just thought i'd post it and see what people think. It's kind of a cool concept I guess. Glee is not mine, The Walking Dead is also not mine. **

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**December 25****th****, 2012. Middle of the Night.**

A loud bang startled Rachel Berry awake. She could feel the coldness radiating through the thin blanket, and though they were inside what could be considered a cave, she knew the wind was fierce beyond it. The tent that could be considered her new temporary "home" was tiny, and she could feel the body heat of the tall man lying next to her. Her soon-to-be husband, or at least was soon-to-be. They're still engaged, but any idea of a wedding after what happened to the world was pretty much out of the question for the time being.

Bang. Again. Rachel craned her head only to find Finn Hudson still inhaling long, exhaling deep and shallow. She nudged him slightly. "Finn" She whispered before nudging him once more, trying to pry him awake. Getting Finn to wake up back at home was usually impossible unless she used drastic measures. She never met anyone to sleep as deeply as he did.

"Hmm" he mumbled a little bit too loudly for Rachel's liking.

"Finn, shhh." She said. Bang. "Do you seriously not hear that?"

"I do now" Finn said, his eyes opening slightly. "What the hell is that?"

"It sounds like a gun if you ask me." Rachel replied in a matter of fact tone, though that tone was nothing more than a mere whisper. She didn't want to be heard, even if they were hidden in some cave like thing.

"A gun? Well who's the moron shooting that? That only attracts more of them." Finn said, sounding annoyed as he sat up. "I should go take a look."

"Are you crazy?" Rachel exclaimed. "Don't go out there! Not in the middle of the night!"

"Rach, I'm not going to let someone or something keep doing that! There will be hundreds in no time, and quite honestly this is the best sleep during the night that I've gotten in the past few days because at least I know this is a safe area. They can't get in here."

"Yeah, because we're in the middle of nowhere…" Rachel replied with a huff.

"Exactly" He said as he leaned down to kiss the top of her forehead. He reached over to his bag, pulling out a knife and gun, before throwing them securely in his belt and pocket. "I won't be long okay? Don't go anywhere. Don't try to find me."

"Finn…" Rachel whined back.

"Rach…I'll be okay." He reassured the tiny girl, leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. "I love you"

"Love you too" Rachel replied quietly as she watched him slowly exit the tent, unzipping the door quietly. Finn flashed a small grin in her direction before closing the tent once more. Just like that, he was gone into the night, leaving Rachel to do nothing but worry like a crazy woman until he returned.

In the dark, the tiny brunette rummaged around underneath her pillow for the tiny booklet she had, a small flashlight also nearby. She grabbed both and quietly opened the booklet, revealing some blank pieces of paper and a calendar Rachel had been using to keep track of the days. It was Christmas Day, but she knew nothing was going to come of that. She sighed as she lie back down, looking at the top of the small tent, nothing but a deep quiet surrounding her, which terrified her slightly. Her heart ached as she thought back to her home in Lima, Ohio. How she would've woken up early today and made Finn a nice breakfast in bed, and surprised him with the most important gift she could think to get him this year, tickets to his favorite ski resort in Michigan; Boyne Mountain. But those were probably long gone in flames by now. Everything would be, her house itself was probably burned to the ground by now. She could feel the tears fall down the side of her face as she tried to force herself to stop replaying that night in her head.

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_**December 21, 2012. 3AM**_

_ Rachel was awoken by the sound of Finn's urgent voice as he shook her lightly by the shoulders, but more violently than he ever has done._

_ "What's going on?" She asked in a clueless manor, the drowsiness of her tired voice wearing off slowly as she opened her eyes to full alertness._

_ "We have to get out of here." Finn said as he began to grab things from around the room. "I need you to pack up as much as you can, but not so much that we can't carry it. And don't try and turn on the lights, we have no electricity." _

_ "Finn…what is going on?" Rachel repeated; the sound of sirens, helicopters, gunshots and screams suddenly screeching themselves into her hearing from beyond the house they lived in._

_ "Rach, please." Finn said, pleading with her. "Just get up, get ready and let's go. We have to be quick if we want to live."_

_ "What?" Rachel shrieked as she jumped out of bed, heading towards the window._

_ "Don't!" Finn yelled. "Don't look out there."_

_ "I'm confused…"_

_ Finn walked briskly up to her and grabbed her hand. "Please just trust me." He said quietly, before kissing her lightly on the forehead. "I don't want to lose you, so for now can you just do as I say?" _

_ Rachel nodded without saying another word as she quickly changed her clothes, throwing things into a suitcase blindly as she did, worried about everything she was hearing from beyond her walls._

_ "Are you ready?" Finn said as he scrambled into the room what felt like only moments after. "We have to go."_

_ "Finn...can you please just explain to me briefly what is going on? You're making me freak out."_

_ "Well then what I'm about to tell you is probably just going to make it worse." He said as he approached her, grabbing a few more things in the process. "It broke out. Something. I'm not really quite sure what but before the electricity went out that's what the news was saying. It's everywhere and it's turning people into….into some kind of zombie thing. I'm pretty sure they're just solving the issue by setting houses on fire but….we have to go. We have to go now. They're claiming there's some sort of safe area, but it's not in this state. We have to leave Ohio." Finn explained, watching as the terror in Rachel's wide eyes built up. "It's in the mountains and we need to get the hell out of here Rach…." Rachel turned towards the window as she heard an ear shattering scream. "Now." Finn finished, grabbing her hand._

_ Rachel, her brain not completely registering, obeyed what Finn said and frantically followed him down the stairs of their home, where she indeed could see the flames of fires through her closed blinds. She couldn't wrap her mind around this. Not even an hour ago she was sound asleep. Finn may not have been, but she would've never known. Flashback even more, and not even twelve hours ago were they laughing as they ate dinner at the local restaurant, Breadstix to celebrate a belated birthday dinner since on the eighteenth they both happened to be working and too tired to go out that actual day. This was unreal. This had to be a dream. Not funny, dream mind. You can wake up at any second. _

_ But this unfortunately was no dream. This was reality. And it was terrifying. _

_ "Thank God we have a garage." Finn said quietly, as he rummaged through a few more things throughout the house. Rachel stood, looking aimlessly around her living room, the Christmas tree no longer lit up by the window as it usually was at night. Maybe…if she could just sneak a peek out the window from by the tree, Finn wouldn't…_

_ "Rachel" Finn hissed, startling her to look into his direction. "What're you doing? Come on babe." _

_ And just like that, Rachel broke down into tears, her hands covering her face. "M-my home…and m-my things…F-F-Finn…" she choked out before feeling the familiar set of large hands on her back, taking her in close as he held her tightly. _

_ "It's okay" Finn said reassuringly. "We're going to be okay. We just have to….start over." He said quietly, caressing her tiny back with his hands as he tried to soothe her. Deep down, he was freaking out just as much as she was._

_ "I don't want to start over…" she said through her sniffles._

_ "We don't really have a choice." Finn replied, removing his hands from her back to cup her tiny face. "Look at me"_

_ Rachel did as she was told._

_ "We're going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. This might be a rough next few days, but we will be okay. Look at everything we've gone through….together. Okay?" _

_ Rachel nodded, silently._

_ "I won't let a damn thing happen to you, and you know that. I'll keep you safe. I've been doing it all these years, and I won't stop doing that now." Finn said sternly._

_Rachel looked around, her tears escaping her once more. "Who cares about these material things, Rach? It's nothing that can't be replaced in the future and you know that." Finn said quietly, as if he were reading her mind. "All I ask is that when we leave this house, you try to stay quiet. I would try and shield you from seeing what's going on out there, but that's impossible to do."_

_ Rachel grinned slightly, appreciatively, once again feeling thankful for having someone like Finn, even after all these years._

_ "Promise me you'll stay calm." Finn's eyes pressed into hers with urgency and she knew just by that look that he was not messing around._

_ Rachel nodded. "I will try."_

_ Finn pulled her in for one more hug before kissing her deeply on the lips. "I love you" he said, looking into her eyes. _

_ "I love you too" Rachel whispered._

_ Finn grabbed her tiny hand in his, entwining their fingers together as they headed for the garage door. "I was putting things in the truck as you were gathering things together…well and for quite some time before I decided to wake you. I wanted you to sleep peacefully for as long as you could." He explained as they stopped just before the door. "It's going to be crammed in the truck, but it's the best I can do."_

_ "What all do you have?" Rachel asked curiously._

_ "Our things, clothes, food, gasoline from the shed, equipment….you know, guns and stuff." _

_ Rachel's breath caught in her throat, and not in the good way. Finn, seeing the worried look in her eyes, leaned down and kissed her deeply once more. "Relax, okay? I need you to be calm."_

_ Rachel nodded as he repeated himself, as they quietly walked out to the garage and into his large truck. _

_ "Good thing I bought this thing." Finn said with a smile as he turned on the loud diesel engine, filling the garage with its soft rumbles._

_ Rachel thought back a month ago, when he came home with this giant gas guzzler of a Ford truck. He was in love with it, and though if you asked her a month ago what she thought she would say it's a waste of money especially with gas prices the way they are. However, if you asked her now, in this very moment, she would be thankful._

_ She closed her eyes as Finn opened the garage door, slamming the truck into reverse as he piled out of the driveway, screeching his tires as he began to fly down the road. Rachel opened her eyes and let out a stifled cry as she stared in horror at the subdivision they had lived in. There were fires everywhere, people screaming frantically and cars piling on out just as Finn had done. But that wasn't the most terrifying part; what terrified her most was exactly what Finn had explained. Zombies. Of people who were probably her friends, her neighbors, walking slowly but with a purpose into people's homes and yards, attempting to attack the closest non-zombie human they could find. Her mind instantly wandered to her fathers, Finn's mom and step dad. What happened to them? Were they okay? She knew she wasn't going to get an answer, at least not right now. Rachel was going to be sick. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat, breathing deeply. She felt Finn's hand reach for hers and give it a reassuring squeeze, but nothing could calm her at the minute. She watched as they pulled out onto the main road, and drove quickly away from the subdivision where she once resided. And just like that, her life and everything she knew was nothing but a memory of the past. That was enough to break her heart for as long as she lived._

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Rachel wiped her eyes as once again that dreadful memory replayed in her mind like a film that would never leave the theater. She closed her eyes tightly as she began to pray. "God…if there really is one. Please, bring him back to me safe. Please. Amen." It was a quick prayer, but after everything she's seen how could Rachel be sure if a higher being even existed. This was the end of the world as far as she was concerned. And why would that "being" leave Finn and she stuck here, living out this nightmare day in and day out. They didn't deserve it, and neither did anyone else who was in America at that moment like she was, living their days in fear.

She turned underneath the thin blanket, her hand moving to Finn's pillow. She closed her eyes, and tried to fall asleep, knowing if she did that maybe he would be back sooner. The thought of losing Finn was unbearable, and it was something she refused to think about every time he went out like this without her. Her mind was definitely stressing her out, and there was no soothing it. Nothing would help until Finn was back, and even then, was that only a tiny stress reliever. The weight of the world was on her shoulders, literally. All she could do was hope that safe place Finn talked about existed, and that all this travel and terror wasn't for nothing.

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**Feedback is appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just a few things I need to cover. This story is AU, but you all knew that. And to answer anon's question about them being 18 since it is 2012…I was debating back and forth between that and I decided on no. You'll find out as the story goes along, but I should've probably introduced that sooner. The idea of them living in a house together, etc at 18 is unrealistic. I believe i'm setting them at 24 in this, so never mind the year as it correlates to Glee :)**

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Finn walked out of the cave cautiously and slowly, looking in every direction humanly possible only to find nothing in sight. Of course not, all the action was probably towards the west, where all the gun shots were coming from. The shots now seemed simultaneous, and he knew there were probably copious amounts of zombies around whoever was causing this. He let out a slight sigh as he began to run through the woods quickly towards the shots until finally he reached the area. It wasn't far from where they were hiding out at all, and all he could think about was keeping Rachel safe and away from these zombies. They only had one bad encounter so far, and he swore he would never let that happen again.

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_**December 22**__**nd **__**2012, 1:30pm.**_

_"Have you figured out where we're going yet?" Rachel said as she hopped back into the truck. They made a pit stop at a tiny local grocery store directly off the highway for more food; taking whatever else they felt like since the place was empty._

_ "Yeah, we should keep on this road for just a bit longer before turning off." Finn said as they began to drive, the GPS directing him towards his destination once more. They didn't pass any cars and part of him wondered what had happened to the cars that were surrounding him everywhere just that early morning when they left Lima._

_ "I'm so tired." Rachel said quietly._

_ Finn looked over at her before looking back towards the desolate road in front of him, abandoned cars occasionally interfering with the lone flow of traffic, swerving slightly between them. "I know." He said simply. "But we're almost to our first stop, then I promise we can get some sleep." He added reassuringly. He was pretty tired himself, having been driving for almost twelve hours straight, minus the few stops they made. _

_ They drove for about an hour longer before it came. He knew this was going to happen. A large traffic jam right on the highway. It was over a bridge too. Of course. Where were they going to go? 'Straight out of a movie' Finn thought as he directed his attention towards Rachel, putting the truck into park._

_ "We might have to get out and push these cars if we want to get through." Finn said._

_ Rachel looked at him and nodded silently. He knew that if this were any other occasion she would definitely be complaining. He was proud of her for being such a good sport about everything; he knew how rough this was for her. It was rough for him too; he just didn't want to show it. He had to be strong, especially for Rachel's sake._

_ "Let's do it." She said before hopping out of the large truck, walking quickly over towards Finn. "Where should we begin?" _

_ "Lets just try and get the smaller cars out of the way first, see if that helps us at all."_

_ Rachel nodded as she walked ahead of him towards a little Toyota Camry parked directly in the middle of the highway. She quickly grabbed onto the back of the car, waiting for Finn to catch up._

_ "Try getting inside of it and putting it in neutral instead while I push. It'll probably make it easier to move." He explained._

_ As Rachel approached the driver's side door, she stopped and gasped. "There….there's someone…" Finn looked around to the driver's side as she screamed at the top of her lungs as whatever it was woke up, looking directly at her as it began to claw at the windows trying to escape. _

_ "Oh my God…oh my God!" Rachel yelled as she ran backwards, directly into a minivan, the same thing now happening inside that car. "Th-There's things in all of these cars!" She shrieked. "Finn!" _

_ Finn couldn't help but turn and run back to the truck as quickly as he could, yelling at Rachel to follow him, but it was too late. Her screams and yelling were enough for more to emerge; some coming out of cars quicker than others. Finn's heart was beating rapidly as he rummaged through his things, finding a knife and gun. These things made really awful noises and gasps, their growling sounding like an animal. Just knowing these were once humans gave him chills. He quickly began firing shots at the bodies slumming their way towards Rachel as Rachel ran as fast as she could away, unsuccessfully as she ran herself into one trap after the other._

_ "They're not dying!" Rachel yelled as Finn kept shooting. It wasn't until he shot one in the head did it finally fall. He should've known they wouldn't die if he shot the heart, after all, he did used to watch Zombie movies._

_ "Head! Shoot in the head!" She said as she began to panic. There had to be nearly thirty of them going after the Rachel, some now turning their heads towards Finn's gunfire as well._

_ "Over my dead body you fucking bastards." Finn muttered as he began shooting, hitting as many as he could before Rachel was able to get towards him. It was weird that these were once people, just like him and Rachel, but he sure as hell wasn't about to lose Rachel to these…things._

_ "Oh my God…I'm so sorry." She said as she reached for his upper arm, holding onto him tightly._

_ Finn fired off a few more rounds of ammunition before turning. There was no use. There had to be close to over a hundred by this point, and they were coming for them in all directions._

_ "Get to the truck, Rachel." He demanded as he began to run behind her, turning every once in a while to fire a shot or two. _

_ When they got back to the truck, he had to fight a few of them off the sides of it but he was successful. He revved up the engine and floored it into reverse, running a few over in the process causing Rachel to scream._

_ "You have to stop screaming, babe." He said calmly. Quite honestly, her screams only caused more anxiety inside of him. It wasn't exactly a sound he really wanted to hear…unless it was like, in the bedroom or something. But even then, probably not since this was more an 'I'm going to die bloody murder' type scream._

_ "I'm so sorry." Rachel repeated. "I'm just so scared." She said as her voice shook._

_ "It's okay." Finn said, reaching over for her hand. "I'm going to have to teach you how to use these guns though." Finn, a previous police officer had numerous training on the handling of guns. Thank God for that._

_ Deciding the highway wasn't the best idea, Finn veered off into a field, searching until he came across a back road, which from there they decided to travel on instead. It was going to be more difficult to get to the mountains than he thought._

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"Hey!" Finn yelled cautiously but quietly. "Hey!" He repeated, trying to get the shooters attention.

"Woah woah!" Finn said holding up his hands in surrender as the stranger pointed the gun in Finn's immediate direction. "Don't shoot."

"Who are you?" A man bellowed out, obvious panic in his voice.

"I just heard the shots. I am hiding out nearby. That's all. I came to see what was up." Finn explained calmly, watching as the Zombies began to head towards him. They didn't care who was who, as long as that person had human flesh. They were atrocious.

The man pointed the gun away and continued to shoot, his partner doing the same.

"The gunshots attract more of them!" Finn called out, holding up his knife as he began killing them, helping out the strangers that so rudely disrupted his sleep.

"It does?" The other man in the duo questioned, not stopping the firing though.

"Yes. Do you guys have other weapons? Try those."

"Well there's no use now, there's so many!" The one said. Finn observed him quickly. He was shorter than he, short dark curly hair atop his head that was super gelled back. This guy also had a point.

"Then let's get you two out of here." Finn said, surprised he even recommended the idea.

"What?"

"Yeah, come to where I'm hiding out. It's a cave. It's nice, haven't seen a zombie in days."

"Walker" They said, correcting him.

Finn paused. "Y-yeah sure."

"Are you alone?" The one guy questioned as the three ran around each other basically in circles, firing shots and knifing zombies as they spoke.

"No. My girlfriend is with me. She won't mind." Finn explained. "But you need to run. And fast. We need to get all of them off of our tracks. There's no way I'm letting them follow us and have them end up finding their way to us…and her." Finn finished.

"What do you propose we do?" The first man said. "Our car is right over there though!"

"Run. That's really all we can do." Finn rattled his brain for more ideas. "I don't really have any other alternative. Maybe run in the opposite direction just until they get off our trail? And in the morning when they clear out we will come back for the car."

"Whatever, I'm down for whatever. We just need to get the hell out of here!" The second man yelled. Finn deducted these two had to be a couple, the second man's voice sounding slightly feminine. But he wasn't judging. He just wanted to get out of there safe, and to get back to Rachel as soon as he could.

"Then on the count of three you both will follow me as I knife. You won't fire any more gunshots unless you absolutely have to, understand?"

They both nodded in agreement as Finn counted. 'Lord help me' was pretty much all he thought as he yelled out three and they all took off.

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Despite Rachel's frantic mind, she found her ipod and put it on low, listening only through one earbud in as she calmed herself down before drifting off into sleep. If she wasn't basically hiding for life, she would've been singing along, but this wasn't the time. Instead she listened to Barbra Streisand, hoping that her iPod wouldn't die. Soon, she began to dream, the music no longer present in her conscious mind. They were back home, friends and family surrounding them as they laughed and watched the hockey game; Finn was always a diehard Columbus Blue Jackets fan. She would entertain the girls as they sat at the kitchen table, while the guys drank their beer and ate their snacks, occasionally yelling at the television. It was amazing what she took for granted until….

Rachel's eyes shot open as she let out a scream, a set of hands instantly flying to her mouth to stifle the scream.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Finn whispered as he removed his hands from her mouth. "It's just me."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Rachel shot back, a wave of relief flooding over her at the sight of Finn beside her, his flashlight moving around as he reached for a water bottle and towel, pouring the water scarcely onto the towel as he cleaned his dirty hands and face off.

"There's people outside, don't be alarmed. I'm letting them stay next to us as long as they never shoot their damn gun again."

"People?" Rachel asked curiously. "Were they the ones…"

"Yes" Finn said, cutting her off. "They were surrounded though. I guess it's a good thing I had found them, or else I'm not quite sure they'd be alive. They abandoned their car back where I found them, so I'm going out with them tomorrow to get it. Turns out they're going to the same place we are."

"Oh really?" Rachel said. She really wanted to leave the tent and introduce herself, but she wasn't sure that was the best idea. It was probably best she waited until the morning.

"Yeah. Why not travel in a pack." Finn said as he stripped himself of his dirty shirt and pants, leaving him in nothing but boxers. "I think they can be trusted anyway, but I'll know more in the morning. For now I'm just glad we're safe back here with the walkers off our trail."

"Walkers?"

"The zombies. That's what they were calling them." Finn explained before turning off his flashlight and collapsing next to Rachel once more, pulling the blankets up to his chest.

"I'm just glad you're safe." Rachel muttered as Finn wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. She could hear the shuffling about outside of the tent, but she knew it was just the others. Maybe being with more people would settle her uneasy mind a bit, or maybe it would cause more commotion and attract the "walkers" to them. Everything had a pro and con, her mind just needed to stop thinking of every possible one to every situation. It was one of her downfalls.

She felt Finn's lips hit her cheek multiple times as she tried not to laugh too loudly. "Stop that tickles and you know that!" she said through giggles.

"I just like your reaction, that's all."

"You can't even see me." Rachel whispered back.

"I know, but I've seen it many times to know." Finn said into her ear before kissing her cheek once more. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said before kissing him gently on the lips.

"Get some sleep now, I'm not leaving your side again." Finn said as Rachel nestled her head onto the top of his chest, his warmth engulfing her as she instantly relaxed, her eyes closing immediately. After all, dreams were better than reality in a time like this.

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**Let me know what you think! I correlated Finn and Rick Grimes (From TWD)'s characters of being police officers :)**


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